Two Portraits

Director, stage designer: Alexei Kruglov
Composer, sound designer: Alexei Kruglov
Video designer, animation artist: Vera Sharonova
Creator of the “Specter” video work: Sergei Zhivotov 
Stage Movement Master: Karina Nesmeyanova

Two Portraits is a directorial work by musician, poet, and performer Alexei Kruglov, known for his experiments in the field of modern jazz. It is based on two mystical texts from the 19th century, related to the theme of the portrait: the last, unfinished prose work of Mikhail Lermontov Stoss, and Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The open ending of Stoss allows one to enter an illusion wherein the main character Lugin becomes Lord Henry, turning Dorian Gray into his alter ego. The theme of “the life of a portrait,” the search for oneself, and for one’s inner voice is crucial for both works, which merge into a dramatic-performative composition. The performance features excerpts from Kruglov's poetic work "In Imitation of Ovid," referring to Ovid's “Metamorphoses”; a folk lament performed by Maria Nefyodova; fragments of an imaginary radio performance; and stories from the real life of actors Alesya Skovorinskaya and Sergei Zhivotov. Alexei Kruglov's music is present in two forms: free jazz and electroacoustics, which is reflected in the video animation created by Vera Sharonova. The musician himself improvises in the extended vocal technique.